Mark Madden: Tip your cap to Dodgers for not babying pitchers

Something refreshing happened within the context of MLB’s current zeitgeist Monday night: A starting pitcher threw eight innings.

No, it’s not a complete game. And the length of Blake Snell’s stay on the mound for Los Angeles was made more palatable because he only threw 103 pitches, less than usual for 24 outs.

But I’ll take what I can get.

It got even better Tuesday when the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw the MLB playoffs’ first complete game in eight years. Yamamoto allowed three hits in a 5-1 victory over Milwaukee, walking one and striking out seven in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series. His arm didn’t fall off despite throwing 111 pitches.

On Monday, Snell allowed just one hit and walked none in Game 1. He whiffed 10. He was brilliant.

Monday’s game, a 2-1 win for the Dodgers, might have reminded Snell of when he got lifted in Game 6 of the 2020 World Series.

Snell was pitching for Tampa Bay against the Dodgers. The Rays had to win to stave off elimination.

There was one on, one out in the sixth inning. Tampa Bay led 1-0. Snell was dominant to that point: Two hits, no walks, nine strikeouts. He had thrown 73 pitches.

Snell got pulled.

Bad move.

Tampa Bay’s bullpen blew the lead. The Rays lost 3-1. The Dodgers won the World Series.

You heard all the usual babble afterward about Snell going through Los Angeles’ order for a third time, blah, blah, blah.

But a great pitcher who was dealing got pulled, and his team lost a big game.

The same happened last Friday in the deciding Game 5 of an American League Division Series.

Detroit ace Tarik Skubal pitched a lights-out six innings: Two hits, one earned run, no walks, 13 strikeouts.

Skubal’s final pitch was clocked at 101 mph. It struck out Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh, the favorite to get AL MVP.

But Skubal got pulled with Detroit leading 2-1. He’d thrown 99 pitches.

The Tigers lost 3-2 in 15 innings. Season over.

Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said Skubal was exhausted.

But Skubal’s last pitch was a 101-mph fastball. That’s not indicative of fatigue.

The whole point of having a pitcher like Skubal — the presumptive Cy Young Award winner in the AL — is for him to win that game. By whatever means. Not to worry about pitch count. Not to throw a strong six innings and turn it over to the bullpen.

At least Skubal’s arm was protected from the stress of pitching another inning or two. And from the stress of pitching in the AL Championship Series. He’ll be fine for spring training.

At what point do the team and result matter more than protecting the pitcher’s arm, especially when the risk seems minimal and losing means elimination?

If you protect a pitcher’s arm all season, part of that purpose should be for him to have more left for the postseason. To go longer.

Don Larsen pitched a perfect game for the New York Yankees in the 1956 World Series.

That would never happen today. He’d get pulled after six innings.

Baseball’s current culture kills chances to be legendary.

Paul Skenes won’t have to worry about pitching in the playoffs as long as he’s with the Pirates.

But Skenes deserves credit for pitching 187 2/3 innings in 2025, 10th most in MLB and an average of almost six innings per start.

In today’s baseball, that makes him a workhorse.